"We thank Thee, Lord, for snaw and ice. But still we ask for mair."

Loose Ends – 14 July

Apologies for the lack of content these past few weeks – I’ve been a very busy Hack of late, filming a documentary for my MA in Journalism.

It took me to Norway, Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool but I am back in Scotland now and keen to update you with some stories you might have missed from the world of curling.

I spent a very enjoyable day at the Royal Highland Show on Friday 21 June where I visited the Royal Caledonian Curling Club’s offices for the first time. For those of you who have never seen Cairnie House before, here’s a photo:

And here is the RCCC stall that was up during the show – many thanks to Judith McFarlane who provided me with some much-needed refreshment.

I highly recommend the Royal Highland Show for a great day out – lots to see and do, free food and drink samples and of course the chance to meet our national governing body face-to-face.

Continuing with the RCCC, there has been one story dominating our sport in the off-season and that is the issue of national representation for our top teams.

When will we see this again?

The issue is simple, yet frustrating.

In 2014, the Winter Olympics take place between 7-23 February while the Scottish Curling Championships are to be held 10-16 February.

This clash means that if Team Muirhead (pictured above) are to be Team GB’s women’s curling team – a very likely prospect – then they will not be able to defend their Scottish title from 2013. More importantly this means that they cannot defend the wonderful gold medal and world title they won in Riga in March.

The issue had already been spotted by some in the curling community but was brought to the attention of more people when past-President Robbie Scott stood up and addressed the attendees at the RCCC AGM on 15 June.

Since then, there had been debate on the Scottish Curling Forum about the decision but no official comment from either the RCCC or any players that the decision could potentially affect.

Then, this article appeared on the BBC Sport website on 25 June but with no mention of the clash.

Finally, last Friday morning, the RCCC posted this on their website, explaining their decision and within a few hours, the BBC Sport website had comment from Eve Muirhead in this piece.

The debate will no doubt continue until the medals have been given out come the end of the curling events in Sochi. If none of those medals are sitting proudly around the necks of any Team GB athletes, will the RCCC’s decision to put everything into the Winter Olympics have been the correct one?

Some other RCCC news now.

In early June I wrote about the potential for an U21 Slam event for the 2013/14 season. Sure enough, the RCCC have confirmed it – full details are here.

Two full-time jobs are currently being advertised on the RCCC website. Take a look at the positions here.

For fans of Canadian curling, the CCA has launched a virtual Hall of Fame. Details, including a link to the Hall can be found here.

Some more news from Canada that appeared on the WCF website early this month. Matt Dumontelle who was the alternate for Team Canada at the 2013 World Men’s Championship has been found guilty of committing an anti-doping rule violation. He has been given a two-year ban and has been stripped of the silver medal he won with Brad Jacobs’ Canadian team. Read the full story here.